Chapter 12 - What Was Left Behind
The bank opened a private conference room for June and Nathan. Vega attended because of the connected fraud investigation; the manager documented every item removed from the locker.
I kept Lily at June's apartment with Mrs. Alvarez. I didn't want my daughter watching adults tear through another collection of lies.
Inside the box were two sealed envelopes, a ledger, and a flash drive. The first envelope said FOR NATHAN. The second said FOR GRACE AND HER CHILD.
Nathan called me before opening either.
"They're addressed to us," he said. "Do you want yours brought to you unopened?"
It was such a small courtesy that I had to look away from the phone.
"Yes," I said. "Please."
June read the ledger while Nathan waited. It showed an eighteen-million-dollar reserve account, quarterly statements, and hundreds of thousands in consulting payments to a company called Meridian Family Services.
"What does Meridian do?" Nathan asked.
June searched the business registration. "Surveillance. Travel arrangements. Private investigations."
"All connected to Lily?"
"Some files are labeled G.B. and L.B. Others are marked V.H."
Victoria Hale.
Nathan opened his father's letter with shaking hands. Wallace admitted he had threatened me and hidden my pregnancy, claiming at the time that he was protecting his son's future. He described it as the worst decision of his life.
"At least he wrote the truth," June said.
"Too late to give it to Grace," Nathan replied.
The final page mentioned an audio recording on the flash drive and a password: the name of the child Wallace had never met.
Nathan typed LILY.
May you like
A file opened, dated nine months before Wallace's death. His father's tired voice filled the room.
"If you're hearing this, Nathan, you need to understand something. Victoria Hale knew about your daughter long before she ever became your fiancee. And she has been using that knowledge against me."
